New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department has predicted a dip in temperature in Delhi-NCR from Sunday, as icy northeasterly winds from the snow-covered mountains have already started blowing towards the plains. The western disturbance, which had brought a reprieve from a cold spell in large swathes of north and northwest India, has begun to retreat, it said.
According to an IMD official, large parts of north and northwest India recorded below-normal maximum and minimum temperatures on most days this month before the western disturbance brought relief. This was due to a layer of dense fog persisting over the Indo-Gangetic plains for the past 10 to 11 days and a large gap between two western disturbances that allowed frosty winds from snow-clad mountains to blow in for a longer-than-usual period, he added.
The weather office had earlier predicted the temperatures to plummet in Delhi-NCR next week, forecasting the minimum temperature to settle around 3 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday. It was three notches above the season's average. The maximum temperature was recorded at 18.4 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal.
The weather office predicted shallow fog for Sunday with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to settle around 17 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively. It also forecast a cold wave over many places in Delhi-NCR between Monday and Wednesday.
Mercury Witnesses A Dip In Punjab As Various Cities Reel Under Severe Cold
As far as Punjab, the ongoing cold conditions intensified on Saturday, with mercury further dipping at many places. Bathinda and Amritsar reeled under severe cold as minimum temperatures hovered close to the freezing point. Bathinda recorded a low of 0.6 degrees while the minimum temperature in Amritsar settled at 1.2 degrees.
The maximum temperature in Chandigarh settled at 13 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature was at 11.4 degrees. The regional Met centre said in Gurdaspur and Moga, which recorded minimum temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius each, the maximum temperature was at 15 degrees and 14 degrees, respectively.
Ludhiana recorded a maximum temperature of 16.6 degrees Celsius and Patiala reported 15.6 degrees. The maximum temperature in Mohali was recorded at 13.4 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a maximum temperature of 14 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in Sirsa settled at 17.5 degrees Celsius, 15.5 degrees in Hisar, 14.8 degrees in Rohtak, and 14.7 degrees in Bhiwani. In the plains, a cold wave is declared if the minimum temperature dips to 4 degrees Celsius or when it is 10 degrees and 4.5 notches below normal.
(With PTI Inputs)